The U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to “stop the boats” from crossing the Channel and said he would pay millions of pounds to France for surveillance and border controls to stop people from traveling.
French authorities have previously said they won’t intercept migrant boats going to the U.K. — despite requests from the British government — because it contravened international maritime law.
One search and rescue expert quoted by the Observer said that a maneuver used by police — where a vessel is seen heading quickly towards the dinghy, before turning sharply to create waves — could cause “a mass casualty event.”
“The water is deep enough to drown in,” the expert told the paper. “I’ve seen this in the central Mediterranean many times, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this happening in the Channel.”
Authorities in the north of France confirmed that a police boat had circled a dinghy in a bid to “dissuade passengers” from approaching the open sea, adding: “It’s the only time we’ve been able to intercept a small boat using this maneuver and it was a deterrent. All the migrants were recovered and the smugglers arrested.”
